Following his return from death after cardiac arrest in 1984, Marvin Barrett, a journalist and senior lecturer at the Columbia University School of Journalism, began contemplating his daily experiences in old age. These musings became the focus of his journals for the next seven years. A quotation from Father Faber sets the frame for this writing: "The surest method of arriving at a knowledge of God's eternal purposes about us is to be found in the right use of the present moment. God's will does not come to us in the whole, but in fragments, and generally in small fragments. It is our business to piece it together."

Barrett savors the freedom of his second chance at life. There is a family reunion in Iowa to come to terms with roots and an old wound. A four-week trip to India enables him to meet Father Bede Griffiths, a profoundly spiritual Christian. On a journey to Italy with his wife, they visit the place where they spent their honeymoon.

Barrett presents the last stages of his life as a spiritual adventure. Insomnia gives him more time to pray; helping others fills the hours. Reading new books and cherishing the vocation of grandfather enable the author to count his blessings. All these small fragments are used as new opportunities for spiritual growth.